Machine for packing matches



L. E. PARKER. MACHINE Fan PACKING MATCHES.

I APPLICATION FILED FEB. 4, 192p.

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L. E. PARKER.

MACHINE FOR PACKING MATCHES.

APPLICATION FILED FEB. 4,. I920- Patented Apr. 12, 1921.

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glivvcvwtov L. E. PARKER; MACHINE FOR PACKING MATCHES. APPLICATION ,HLED FEB-4| 1920.

I PatentedApr. 12, 1921.

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L. E. PARKER.

MACHl-NEFOR PACKING MATCHES.

APPLICATION FILED FEB. 4, 192d- Patented Apr. 12, 1921.

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Patented Apr. 12, 1921.

5 SHEETS-SHEET 5- APPL'ICATION FILED FEB. 4. 1920.

UNITED STATES PATENT OFFICE.

LUCIAIN' E. PARKER, OF WAIDSWORTH, OHIO, ASSIGNOR TO THE OHIO MATCH COM- PANY, 0F WADSWORTH, OHIO, A CORPORATION OF OHIO.

MACHINE FOR PACKING MATCHES.

Application filed. February 4, 1920.

To aZZ whom it may concern:

Be it known that I, LUoIAN E. PARKER, a citizen of the United States, residing at Wadsworth, in the county of Medina and State of Ohio, have invented a certain new and useful Improvement in Machines for Packing Matches, of which the following is a full, clear, and exact description.

The object of this invention is to provide a machine for packing matches in boxes in which the box itself, that is to say, for example, the tray of a shuck-and-tray container, serves as a measure. Although the machine was designed primarily ifor packing matches, the invention is not limited to such use, but obviously is capable of being extended to packing in boxes or other containers, various other articles of a character more or less analogous to matches.

The invention consists, broadly stated, in

'a machine which is adapted to feed the empty boxes, trays or containers, in one direction, while the matches or other articles approach the boxes from the opposite direction and are discharged end-on or lengthwise into one box after another until the boxes are successively filled, and to direct the oil-coming matches or other articles beyond a filled box into the next succeeding unfilled or partly filled box so that the boxes become a measure of their individual capacity, the filled boxes passing on to a position or to a machine by which they may be supplied with a shuck or other cover, as 1 will proceed now to explain and finally claim.

It is to be noted that the machine of this invention may form part of a continuous match machine, and be located at or near the discharge end of the machine so as to receive the matches as they are discharged from the match plates, but the invention is not limited to such use or arrangement.

In the accompanying drawings illustrating my invention, in the several figures or" which like parts are similarly designated, Figure 1 is a side elevation. Fig. 2 is an end elevation with the box feeding device in vertical section. Fig. 3 is a cross section, on a larger scale, showing details of the bed and distributer plate, the section being taken substantially on the line 38 of Fig. 1.. Fig. 4 is a cross section, on a larger Specification of Letters Patent.

Patented Apr. 12, 1921.

Serial No. 356,298.

scale, taken substantially on the line 44@ of Fig. 1. Fig. 5 is a top plan view of the bed, and Fig. 6 is a side elevation thereof. F 1g. 7 is a plan view, on a larger scale, of a portion of the front end of the bed, and Fig. 8 is a cross section on the same scale taken substantially on the line 7-7 of Fig. 5. Fig. 9 is an elevation, partly broken out, showing one of the agitator strips, and Fig. 10 is an end view thereof. Fig. 11 is a side elevation, on a larger scale, of a portion of the mechanism designed to illustrate more graphically the method of filling the boxes by overflow.

The bed 1 is supported in suitable sup ports 2 and 3, at an incline that will insure the gravitation of the articles to be boxed. This bed may be a casting or other suitable structure, provided with openings or slots 4: and 5 to receive the lugs 6 and 7 of the strips 8 having the lateral projections or heads 9. The strips 8 are mounted upon a rod 10 with spacers 11 between them and the rod 10 is connected by the connecting rod 12 with an eccentric 13 on the shaft 14' which may be suitably driven, as bya motor 15 mounted upon the support 2, so that the strips 8 will receive a longitudinal motion. The strips 8 in connection with the bed 1 form a series of parallel guideways to receive series of boxes or trays 16, which are introduced into the machine at the point 17, the lateral projections or heads 9 of the strips serving to keep the boxes or trays in position. The connection of the rod 12 with the shaft 11- is such that the strips 8 will be vibrated in order to shake down the matches or other articles into the boxes, and any suit able means other than the eccentric 13 may be used to effect such vibration.

The shaft 14 may be geared to the motor 15 by gear wheels 18 and 18.

The bed may be provided with the longitudinal grooves 19 into which any loose matches missing the boxes may fall, and at the lower end of the bed these grooves are provided with lateralopenings 20 communicating with the slots 5 to provide for the escape of such loose articles, and in order to assist in such escape, the grooves may be provided with deflector plates 21, arranged adjacent to the openings 20, as shown in detail in Figs. 5 and 7.

In Figs. 3 and 4 the bed is shown'as fiat and ungrooved, and it may be so used, while in Figs. 6, 7 and 8 the bed is shown as grooved, as and for the purpose described. baid bed may be otherwise constructed to suit the purpose for which the particular machine is designed or the article it is to pack.

Arranged above the bed 1 and part-way overlying it, is the inclined distributer plate 22, which also extends beyond the bed so as to receive the matches or other articles to be boxed or packed. As shown in Fig. 1, this plate is arranged adjacent to the match carrying plates A of a match machine, from which the matches are discharged end-on upon the upper end or" the plate, and this plate is provided with longitudinal grooves 23 toreceive the matches, and these grooves spread out laterally and correspond in number and alinement with the box-carrying guideways in the bed 1, to thereby distribute the matches to the boxes. The matches fall from the distributer plate into the boxes and fill them, and any overflow irom one box goes over into the next succeeding box, while the filled boxes pass on beneath the distributer plate and out of the machine, as at 24:, where they may be supplied with covers or shucks.

The box-feed may be of any suitable construction, preferably adapted to efiect an intermittent advance of the boxes, and as here shown, it is a wheel 25 composed of a series of disks 26 mounted to turn with a shaft 27 and having peripheral inclined paddles 28 equal in number to the number of guideways in or upon the bed. The shaft 2'? is mounted uponstands 29 which rest upon the supports 2, and the wheel as a whole is adapted to have intermittent rotary motion so that its paddles will engage the series of empty boxes as they are admitted to the machine at 17 and push the boxes up the inclined bed so as to meet the oppositely moving streams of matches or other articles to be boxed, and then cause the filled boxes to be discharged as already described. Any suitable means may be used for giving the desired rotary motion to the feed wheel 25, and one such is here shown as ratchet wheels 30 applied to opposite ends 01"? the shaft 27 and engaged by pawls 3i pivoted upon. rock levers 32 mounted on said shaft and engaged by connecting rods 33 with cams 34; on shaft 85. The cam shaft may be mounted in stands 36 supported upon lateral projections 37 on the bed; and this shaft 35 may also have at its outer ends cams 38 for driving the mechanism for applying the shucks or covers to the filled boxes.

I have thus described one embodiment of the principle of my invention, and have noted the factthat variations in this construction are permissible Within the principle of the invention and the scope of the claims herein, and will now describe the mode of operation.

The mechanism described being associated with a continuous match machine either directly or indirectly, or erected entirely independently thereof, has the empty boxes or trays 16 introduced into the machine at 17, and then impelled by the feed wheel into and up the various guideways therefor in or upon said bed and subjected toa shaking or vibratory motion by means of the vibrating strips 8. The ascending boxes meet the descending matches 39 or other articles to be packed in the boxes which are approaching the boxes end-on, and the matches or other articles fall from the distributer plate into the boxes, and any excess or overfiow of such articles falls to the next succeeding partly filled or empty box or boxes, so that there may be several transverse rows of boxes undergoing filling at the same time, each box serving as a measure of its contents. Articles falling on boxes that are already filled will by means of the inclination and vibration of the boxes slide from such boxes to those next below until boxes are reached that are not full, and then said articles will remain in such boxes and other articles will gradually fill said boxes until they also are filled full and overflowing; It will be seen that a box in advancing up the inclined bed will reach a point just below the lower edge of the distributor plate where no more articles from the source of supplycan get in the box. If such a box be overfull, the articles that are on the top will by reason of the incline and vibration referred to slide on down to the boxes below and somewhere find an unfilled boxin which they will drop and lodge, as already described. 7

The matches descend toward the bed, while the boxes ascend the inclined bed, the leading box being pushed upwardly by those below it under the impulse of the feed wheel 25, as illustrated in Fig. 1 and more in detail in Fig. 11, in which latter view the matches are shown as passing over filled boxes to those only partly filled. Any articles not entering the boxes will pass on down the bed and fall out through the slots 5 and may be recovered. ln'this way, by the continual overfilling and sliding on of the articles, absolutely uniform filling of the boxes is insured.

Inasmuch as the machine is capable of use for packing or boxing other articles than matches, it is to be understood that nothing herein is to be taken as a limitation of such use.

What I claim is 1. In a machine for packing matches and other articles in boxes, an inclined bed provided with guideways for the boxes, means to advance the boxes lengthwise of said bed, and means to cause the articles to approach the boxes in a direction opposite to the movement of the boxes.

2. In a machine for packingmatches and other articles in boxes, a stationary upwardly inclined bed, strips arranged longitudinally in said bed and extending above its surface and forming a series of guideways for the boxes, means to advance the boxes in rows upwardly in said guideways, and a downwardly inclined distributer plate overhanging the upper portion of the inclined bed so as to supply the articles endon to the boxes. i

3. In a machine for packing matches and other articles in boxes, a stationary upwardly inclined bed, strips arranged longitudinally in said bed and extending above its surface andforminga series of guideways for the boxes, means to advance. the boxes in rowsupwardly in said guideways, a downwardly inclined" distributer plate overhanging the upperportion of the inclined bed so as to supply the articles endon to the boxes, and means to vibrate said strips.

4:. In a machine for packing matches and other articles in boxes, a stationary upwardly inclined bed, strips arranged longitudinally in said bed and extending above its surface and forming a series of guideways for the boxes, means to intermittently advance the boxes in rows upwardly in said guideways, and a downwardly inclined distributer plate overhanging the upper portion of the inclined bed so as to supply the articles endon to the boxes.

5. In a machine for packing matches and other articles in boxes, an upwardly inclined bed having a series of guideways arranged lengthwise thereof, means to advance the boxes upwardly in said guideways, and a distributor plate inclined downwardly toward said bed and adapted to distribute the articles end-on into the boxes so that the overflow from filled boxes will descend to succeeding unfilled or partly filled boxes and the boxes thus be made the measure of their capacity.

6. In a machine for packing matches and other articles in boxes, an upwardly inclined bed having a series of guideways arranged lengthwise thereof, means to ad- Vance the boxes upwardly in said guideways, means to agitate the boxes as they are moved up the bed, and a distributer plate inclined downwardly toward said bed and adapted to distribute the articles end-on into the boxes so that the overflow from filled boxes will descend to succeeding, unfilled or partly filled boxes and the boxes thus be made the measure of their capacity.

7 In a machine for packing matches and other articles in boxes, an upwardly in clined bed having a series of guideways arranged lengthwise thereof, means to 'advance the boxes upwardly in said guideways, a distributer'plate inclined dow11- wardly toward said bed and adapted to distribute the articles end-0n into the boxes so that the overflow from filled boxes will descend to succeeding unfilled or partly filled boxes and the boxes thus be made the measure of their capacity, and means at or near the lower ends of the guideways to discharge such articles as escape the boxes.

8. In a machine for packing matches and other articles in boxes, the combination of astationary upwardly inclined bed provided with longitudinal slots, strips mounted 'uponsaid bed and engaging said slots and having heads standing above the bed and forming guideways on said bed to receive-the boxes, means to vibrate said strips, a paddle wheel arranged at the lower end of the bed and adapted to feed the boxes upwardly in said guideways, and a distributer plate arranged above the upper portion of the bed and provided with as many grooves as there are guideways on the bed and adapted to deliver the articles to be packed end-on to the boxes.

9. In a machine for packing matches and other articles in boxes, the combination of a stationary upwardly inclined bed pro vided with longitudinal slots, strips mounted upon said bed and engaging said slots and having heads standing above the bed and forming guideways on said bed to receive the boxes,means to vibrate said strips, a paddle wheel arranged at the lower end of the bed and adapted to feed the boxes upwardly in said guideways, and a distributer plate arranged above the upper portion of the bed and provided with as many grooves as there are guideways on the bed and adapted to deliver the articles to be packed end-on to the boxes the combination being such that as the boxes are capacity full the overflow will slide on to the succeeding unfilled or partly filled boxes.

10. In a machine for packing matches and other articles in boxes, a stationary upwardly inclined bed provided with longitudinal grooves having lateral openings near their lower ends, said bed also having longitudinal slots adjacent to said openings, whereby articles missing the boxes and falling into the grooves may be discharged from the grooves through said slots.

11. In a machine for packing matches and other articles in boxes, a stationary upwardly inclined bed provided with longitudinal grooves and longitudinal slots inthe lower ends of said bed adjacent to said grooves and in communication therewith, and deflector plates arranged in said grooves adjacent to the points of communication between the grooves and slots. 7

12. In a machine for packing matches and other articles in boxes, a stationary up wardly inclined bed provided with longitudinal grooves and longitudinal slots in the lower ends of said bed adjacent to said grooves, said grooves having lateral openings adjacent to said slots, and deflector plates arranged in said grooves next to said openings therein and adapted to divert any loose articles from the grooves into said slots and so discharge them from the bed."

13. In a machine for packing matches and other articles in boxes, the combination with an upwardly inclined stationary bed provided with a series of guideways adapted-to receive empty boxes at the lower end of the bed and to discharge the filled boxes at the upper end thereof, a box feeding wheel having series of paddles equal in number to the number of guideways in the bed, said wheel located at the lower end of the bed, means to impart an intermittent rotary motion to said wheel, and means to feedthe articles to be boxed toward the oilmoving boxes. 4

14. In a machine for packing matches and other articles in boxes, the combination with an upwardly inclined stationary bed provided with a series of gnideways adapted to receive empty boxes at the lower end of the bed and to discharge the filled boxes at the upper-end thereof, means to agitate the boxes in-the guideways as they are being advanced up the bed, a box feeding wheel having series of paddles equal in number to the number of guideways in the bed, said wheel located at the lower end of the bed, means to impart an intermittent rotary motion to said wheel, and means to feed the articles tobe boxed toward the onmoving boxes.

In testimony whereof I have hereunto set J. A. GRUMRINE, CLAUDE EDIs. 

